Improvement in hay-presses



' UNITED STATES PATENT Errore.

BENJAMIN ROBERTS, OF HIGHLAND, NEW YORK.

' IMPROVEMENT IN HAY-PRESSES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 511,209, dated April24, 1866.

To all 'whom' it may concer-n:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN RoBEn'rs, of Highland, in the county ofUlster and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Ealing-Presses; and .I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of thisspecification, in which- Figure l is an elevation of one side of thepress when the follower is down. Fig. 2 is a top View of Fig. 1. Fig. 3is a horizontal section, showing the arrangement of the rope upon theelevatinglevers and rollers. Fig. 4, Sheet 2, is a vertical sectionthrough the press, showing` the follower up to its highest point. Fig. 5is an enlarged View of the upper portion of the press. Fig. 6 is atransverse section taken in a vertical plane through the upper portionof the press. Fig. 7 is a top "iew of the fastening for the doors.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

This invention relates to certain novel improvements on that class ofbaling-presses having a follower, which is moved up and down by theaction of extension-levers, the baling being done at or near the top ofthe press and over the follower.

The object of my invention is to provide for reducing the height ofvertical baling-presses of a given capacity by so arranging the ropes orchains which are used for contracting the levers and forcing thefollower upward that the windlass or other power which is used tooperate the press, and which has hitherto been placed beneath thepress-box, can be located at any convenient distance from the press,thus enabling me to dispense with gearing and some other contrivanceswhich are necessary to be used with vertical presses of the class abovementioned, as will be hereinafter described.

Another object of my invention is to suspend the top or cover of thepress-box, which is used to resist the upward pressure, upon rollerswhich are arranged above this cover in such manner that the latter willbe sustained upon the bars which hold it down firmly during theoperation of pressing, and while this is the case the top of thepress-box can be readily opened or closed, as will be hereinafterdescribed; and another object of my invention is to provide the sidedoors of the press-box with self-fastenin g bails for lookin g thesedoors firmly in place when they are closed, which bails are soconstructed and applied to the doors as to be received by sprin g-loopsby which the former are chiefly held, as will be hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand myinvention, I willdescribe its construction and operation. y

In the accompanying drawings, A represents the frame of the press -boX,which is made of a suitable height and strength, it being strengthenedby means of vertical and transverse bolts so as to resist the outwardpressure to which it is subjected. The press-box proper extends down towithin a short distance of the base of the frame A, leaving below it ashort space, A', for receiving two vertical rollers, a a, which may becylindrical or grooved, for receiving around them the two ends ofthecord or chain b, by which thefollower-levers are contracted and thefollower moved upward.

That portion of the press-box within which the hay, cotton, or othersubstance is balcd has for two of its sides hinged doors B B. The othertwo vertical sides are closed by boards b b. The top is closed atcertain times by a horizontal sliding cover, O, and the bottom is formedby the followers D, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. Those sides ofthepress-box through which the follower-beams D project are made up ofvertical timbers cc c, arranged at suitable distances apart to allow ofthebeams D to move freely up or down between them. Thus the timbers cserve as vertical guides for the follower and its beams.

To the projecting ends of the beams B the long levers E E are pivoted attheir upper ends by means of transverse bolts, as shown in Figs. l, 2,and 4.

I have represented three fol1oWer-beams,D/, and four levers, E; but itis obvious that a greater or less number of said parts may be used. Tothese long levers E a number of short arms F are pivoted, the lower endsof which are pivoted to the press-box frame A, nearjits base. The arms Fare pivoted at or near the middle of the length of the levers E,-

and they thus form movable fulcra for the long levers. The length of thearms F is such that when the lower ends of the levers E are drawn up toor near the sides of the press-box frame, as shown in Fig. 4, and are inor nearly a vertical position, the follower-board D will have beenforced up to the desired point for balin g the pressed mass above it.

Between the lower ends of the levers E E are grooved pulleys d d, overwhich pass the single rope or chain b, by which the leversare operated.This rope or chain is applied so as to operate upon both sets of leversat the same time, as follows: It is secured at the middle of its lengthto a pin, e, in the center ot` the bottom board of the press-frame, asshown in Fig. 1. The -ends are.then passed up through holes which aremade through said base-board, and carried oi to the pulleys d d, andpassed back and forth beneath the press-box from one pulley on one sideof the said box to another on the opposite side thereof. The ends of therope are then carried around the vertical rollers c a and connected to awinding-drum, which may be located at any convenient distance from thepress. Any suitable means may be employed for operating upon the rope bto draw the lower ends ofthe levers together. I prefer to use a commondrum having a sweep-lever applied to it, to which lever a horse can beattached for rotating the drum, and thus winding up the rope. Such adrum may be applied to a frame that is connected to the sill-beams ofthe pressframe. This arrangement I have not shown in the drawings, as Ido not eontine myself to any particular mechanical power for operating'upon the rope b. It will thus be seen that I dispense with a windingdrum or windlass beneath the .press box, and employ two short rollerswhich occupy very little vertical space, as a means for enabling me todraw oli' the rope at right angles to the plane of movement of thelevers E. By these means l am enabled to employ a mechanical poweroutside the press-frame of any. suitable description for performing theoperation of pressing or forcing the follower upward in the press-box. Iuse a single rope or chain, b, acting upon all the levers E equally, sothat the follower must rise in a horizontal plane. It it should have anytendency to cant the ropes b will overcome such tendency.

The top of the press-box is closed during 1 the operation of pressing,by means of a movable cover, C, which is composed of a stout beam havingslats secured at suitable distances apart to its bottom. This cover .Cis suspended by means of rods g gand rollers g g', which latter aremounted upon the two strong horizontal beams at the top of thepress-frame A. The ends of the cover C project beneath the said beams sothat the latter serve to resist the upward pressure upon the cover, aswell as supports for this cover. Y Being thus supported and suspendedthe cover C can be moved to one side, as shown in red lines, Fig. 6,when Ait is desired to expose the top of the press-box for removing thebale or filling this box with asubstance to be pressed and baled.

The side doors, B B, are both constructed and fastened alike. I willtherefore describe the construction and mode of fastening one of thesedoors. Two horizontal beams, B B', are used as battens for the door B,to which the leaves of the hinges are secured. At the opposite ends ofthe battens B to the hinges plates h h are secured, and to these platesa bail, G, is pivotcd, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5. The pivotcd ends ofthe bail G have hooks t projecting from them, as shown in Fig. 7,

which hooks catch two spring-loops, L l, that 1 are secured to theinside of one of the upright beams A when the door is closed. The hookslwill catch the spring-loops ZZ when the bailG stands nearlyperpendicular to the door 5 thernbyforcing the free4 end of said bailback and fastening it bythe drop-latch m, the spring-loops l l will bothbe drawn over the ends of the battens B B and caused to press directlyupon the plates h h, as shown in Figs. 5 and 7. Thus the catches orhooks fi on the bail Gr will be relieved from the great strain which isupon the door during the `operation of pressing. The hooked bail servesas a lever for catching and drawing the loop-holders over the ends ofthe batt-ens and keeping them in this position, and said bail alsoserves as a means for drawing open the door.

One of the side boards, bf, of the upper portion ot' the press-box ismade so that it can be moved outward from one end of the bale forrelieving` it and allowing it to be removed from the press. This I haveshown in Fig. 4.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The arrangement of the series'of levers E E F F, frame A A, c o c c,pulleys d d d d, rollers a a, follower-beams D' D, and endless rope orchain b b b b, substantially in the manner and for the purposedescribed.

2. The manner of arranging theA cover C, in combination with the mannerof suspending it from rollers g g', substantially as described.

3. The spring-loops Z lon the frame A, in

combination with the hooked bail Gr, so applied as to receive the endsof the battens B B', and Ato sustain the door B against outwardpressure.

et. The hooked bail Gr, pivotcd to plates h h, in combination withloop-holders l Z, which act upon the hails forward of their fulera, substantially as described.

Witness my hand in matter of my applica tion for a patent for improvedhay-press.

BENJAMIN ROBERTS Witnesses:

R. T. CAMPBELL, EDW. SGHAFER.

